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India look to consolidate lead
Dravid unfazed by top order’s form
Champions Trophy: India grouped with Aussies
Atherton targets India’s senior players
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Vijay Yadav’s daughter dies in mishap
Boucher keeps SA hopes alive
Baskaran tipped as new coach
Rajinder’s fate continues to hang in balance
Anand joins 2,800-point club
Palwinder, Anuj win gold
Resentment over closure of women’s wings
East Bengal win
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India look to consolidate lead
Margao, April 2 The home team is riding the crest of a splendid run in the limited overs game with the four-wicket victory in the second ODI being their sixth on the trot going back to the Rawalpindi tie against Pakistan on February 11. In fact they have lost only four times in their last 20 matches, which indicates consistency as well as confidence. But both the Indian victories in the current series have not been as convincing an effort as those against Pakistan were. They were mostly stuttering efforts and the home team would be eager not to leave things open till the end tomorrow, as was the case at Delhi and Faridabad. The main concern has been the top order that has not been performing with efficiency against a largely inexperienced attack. Especially worrisome have been the performances of openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Both these Delhi batsmen have got starts in the two innings of the series but then have thrown their wickets away due to indiscretion. Sehwag’s swashbuckling ways have fetched the 27-year old star batsman over 4,000 runs and seven centuries in 143 matches. But only one of these three-figure knocks has come in the last 64 matches, and that was exactly one year ago to this day against Pakistan at Kochi’s Nehru Stadium. Sehwag has crossed 50 three more times in this span of time without reaching the hundred and in most other innings he has got a start only to falter through impetuosity. He, more than anyone else, realizes this and would be eager to get out of this big innings drought. Gambhir, who came into the team in place of Sachin Tendulkar, too has got starts and looked good for bigger scores only to fritter them away due to poor shot selection. The Delhi batsman’s place in the team is at stake now, having just one century and an innings of 71 to his credit in 16 matches till date at a modest average of 25-plus. The two significant innings he has played have come in his first six matches after which he has not reached 40. The home team, however, should be mightily pleased with the way 19-year-old Suresh Raina soaked up the pressure and played an innings of maturity in Faridabad to show in clear terms that he’s among the players for the future. The Indians would be praying that their openers do not throw away another good beginning here on a newly laid strip shorn of grass and sporting some cracks. But England too have failed to tackle the Indian slow bowlers Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar and Yuvraj Singh on what seems to be yet another spin-friendly surface. The visitors have not been too confident in the way they have gone about it and could come a cropper again if they rely on only the slog sweep as a way to get out of trouble. If Harbhajan was the hero of the victory with his splendid, career-best haul of 5-31 at Delhi, Powar showed his calibre when given the chance at Faridabad by taking 3-34. England’s hopes of thwarting the spin threat would rest on the broad shoulders of captain Andrew Flintoff and the South African-born Kevin Pietersen. Andrew Strauss has given England a big relief with his innings of 61 in the second ODI and he, apart from Flintoff and Pietersen, has the ability to pull the innings together. England definitely missed a second spinner going by the way Ian Blackwell had performed in the first two ties. The Nehru Stadium does not hold fond memories for India who have lost all the three matches they have played at this venue. Two of those defeats had come against Sri Lanka and they lost the last tie in 2001 by four wickets to Australia who, thus, clinched the series 3-2. That tie against Australia was also marred by a ticket scam and police lathi charge on genuine ticket holders with the stadium already jam-packed with fake ticket holders.
— PTI |
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Dravid unfazed by top order’s form
Margao, April 2 “The top order performed well against Sri Lanka, South Africa and Pakistan...overall I am happy with the batting in the one-dayers,” Dravid said on the eve of the third ODI here. “I agree there could have been a few more runs from the top order, especially in the last two games where we could have done better. “Hopefully the top order would get more runs in the remaining games of the series. “The last game was won by two batsmen (Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni),” the Bangalore stalwart pointed out. Dravid said speedster Munaf Patel was up for selection tomorrow after missing the first two games because of a bruise to his left heel. Dravid said the management had a few options that could be tried out tomorrow. “We have different options. We can try out a few things. We have got good starts, though we would have liked them (Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir) to have
carried on.” “But this is a seven-match series and hopefully they would do so in the remaining games,” Dravid said. Sehwag and Gambhir made 26 and 29, respectively, while putting on 61 for the first wicket in the second one-dayer at Faridabad which India won by four wickets chasing 227. Dravid also expressed his happiness with the relaid wicket at the Nehru Stadium here and said it looked better than the one at Faridabad and looked to be a 250-plus wicket. “It looks a good cricket wicket. It looks firm. It seems to be a better wicket than the one in the last game. I can’t say what will be a good score on this wicket but it probably looks to be a 250-plus score wicket,” the Indian skipper said. Dravid said the heat and humidity would pose a major challenge for both teams. “It is a big challenge, the humidity, for both batsmen and bowlers. We need to make sure we stay hydrated,” he said. “We also have a lot of travelling to do, going from here to Kochi and then a long flight to Guwahati. We need to play really well in the next couple of games,” he said. England hope to bounce back England batsman Paul Collingwood today said England were drawing inspiration from the 2002 series against India when they bounced back from 1-3 down to level the series. “We were down 1-3 the last time we played a one-day series in India and levelled it 3-3. We need to take the positives from the two games we lost into the next game,” the middle-order batsman said ahead of the third one-dayer here tomorrow. He, however, admitted that the team needed to make that extra effort they lacked in the first two dayers, “There were passages of play that we dominated. We have to transform these into wins. We have got the skills and players. We just need to take it a little further,” he said. He also said the high humidity in this coastal city would
be a major challenge for the teams. “The humidity is going to be a key factor in the match, even more than the toss,” the 29-year-old Durham player said. But Collingwood also maintained that England had played in similar conditions in the past. “We have played around the world. Sri Lanka is close to what these conditions are. Players need to keep themselves hydrated in these conditions,” he said. On the absence of coach Duncan Fletcher who has gone to South Africa to escort back his sick wife, he said the team’s practice was not affected since they had enough support staff. “We obviously missed him but there were plenty of coaches out there in the support staff,” he said. Asked about the newly laid wicket for the tie, he said it looked pretty flat as compared to the ones at Delhi and
Faridabad. — PTI |
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Champions Trophy: India grouped with Aussies
Margao, April 2 A qualifier, to be picked from among West Indies, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, would also be placed in Group A, the International Cricket Council chief said. Group B would comprise Pakistan, South Africa, New Zealand and the second qualifier. The qualifying tournament would be held from October 7 while the main event would begin on October 15. Mani said all outstanding issues had been resolved with the Indian cricket board but for two matters relating to tickets for ICC’s sponsors and the fourth venue for the one-day tournament. “We hope these two matters will also get resolved in two week’s time,” he told reporters.
— PTI |
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Atherton targets India’s senior players
London, April 2 Atherton said the support of the Indian Professional Cricketers’ Association (IPCA) was important to the world players’ body (FICA) in their fight against the ICC whom he accused of being money-minded and ignoring players’ concerns of increasing workload. The former England opener with more than 100 Test caps believed that Tim May, FICA chief, failed to convince the Indian players to become his organisation’s members when he met them in Delhi last week. “May knows that without the support of the Indian players his organisation is not worth a damn,” Atherton wrote in his regular column in The Sunday Times today. “My understanding is that May went away disappointed this week, and that FICA are unlikely to get the public support they want. “This is because ... they (IPCA) are a fledgling organisation, loosely administered and not yet recognised by the all-powerful BCCI.” Atherton said the IPCA — whose founding members include Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly, Ravi Shastri, Abbas Ali Baig, Arun Lal and Nawab of Pataudi — have done a couple of creditable things but not enough. “They have achieved some good things ... (but) the discrepancy between the top and the bottom is massive,” he said. “While Tendulkar and Ganguly count their millions, the lowly first-class cricketer in India must be the least powerful and least represented in cricket. “This is partly because, despite the initial support given by the giants of the Indian cricket team, they have done little to further cause of the organisation. “There is the odd fund-raiser and the occasional meeting, but the organisation is largely dormant, waiting perhaps for the next generation of Indian Test cricketer to take an interest. “All this is a shame. Given the BCCI’s growing commercial power and growing influence, India’s players could do with a viable and powerful organisation to look after all their needs. “They could then, in turn, provide support for FICA in their battles with an ICC seemingly determined to ignore many of the players’ concern over the volume of international cricket that is played.”
— PTI |
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Vijay Yadav’s daughter dies in mishap
Faridabad, April 2 Yadav, currently working as a curator at the Nahar Singh Stadium which hosted the India-England one-day tie earlier this week, was also injured in the accident. The police said Yadav’s wife Amrita was driving the car when it turned turtle after hitting a road divider near the Gymkhana Club in Sector 21 C. Yadav’s daughter Sonali (10) and cousin Rahul (24) died on the spot. Amrita sustained serious injuries and was admitted to Escorts Hospital in a critical condition. Yadav, who played 14 one-day internationals for India, broke his collar bone, the police said. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and an FIR has been lodged at the NIT Police Station.
— PTI |
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Boucher keeps SA hopes alive
Johannesburg, April 2 South Africa were 250 for eight in their second innings, a lead of 283 , when bad light ended play 17 overs early on day three. Australia were dismissed for 270 in reply to South Africa's first innings of 303. Fast bowler Clark took four for 64 and leg-spinner Warne picked up three for 83 when the home side batted a second time. Boucher was 55 not out with Andre Nel on 18 in a stand of 56 for the unbroken ninth wicket. AB de Villiers was the first man out in South Africa’s second innings for four. Australia had resumed on 246 for seven but South Africa wrapped up the innings in the space of 27 deliveries with fast bowler Makhaya Ntini ending with six for 100. In the Australian first innings, jeers echoed around the ground when Brett Lee, on 45, edged a delivery from Pollock, the eighth ball of the day, to first slip. Dippenaar dived to take the catch and television replays suggested he took it cleanly but Lee stood his ground. Lee was roundly booed when he reached his half-century but his 64 surpassed his previous career-best 62. Scoreboard
South Africa (1st innings) 303 Australia (1st innings) Langer retd hurt 0 Hayden c Gibbs b Ntini 3 Ponting c De Villiers Martyn c Nel b Ntini 21 Hussey lbw Boje 73 Symonds lbw Ntini 4 Gilchrist c Rudolph b Nel 12 Warne c Pollock b Ntini 36 Lee c Boje b Ntini 64 Kasprowicz c Gibbs Clark not out 0 Extras (b-5, lb-14, w-2) 21 Total (all out, 62.5 overs) 270 Fall of wickets:
1-12, 2-68, 3-73, 4-89, 5-106, 6-174, 7-242, 8-260, 9-270. Bowling: Ntini 18.5-2-100-6, Nel 15-2-42-1, Pollock 15-2-56-1, Kallis 10-2-43-0, Boje 4-1-10-1. South Africa (2nd innings) De Villiers b Clark 4 Gibbs c Martyn b Warne 53 Dippenaar c Hayden Kallis lbw Clark 27 Prince c Symonds b Warne 9 Pollock c Gilchrist b Lee 40 Rudolph c Gilchrist b Clark 0 Boucher not out 55 Boje c Symonds b Warne 4 Nel not out 18 Extras (b-10, lb-4, nb-5, Total ( 8 wkts, 69 overs) 250 Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-55, 3-100, 4-120, 5-130, 6-140, 7-186, 8-194. Bowling:
Lee 17-3-52-1, Clark 18-4-64-4, Kasprowicz 2-0-12-0, Symonds 5-0-18-0, Ponting 2-1-7-0, Warne 25-5-83-3.
— Reuters |
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Kuznetsova bags Miami title
Miami, April 2 Kuznetsova capped the one-hour, 30-minute match with her fourth ace to post her biggest victory since capturing the women’s singles crown at the 2004 US Open. The 20-year-old Kuznetsova was in complete control and said her game plan against Sharapova was to be aggressive and change the pace. It marked the sixth career singles title for the 12th seeded Kuznetsova, who upset the world’s top ranked player, Amelie Mauresmo of France, in straight sets in the semi-final. Earlier in the tournament, she saved a match point against a resurgent Martina Hingis. The win propels Kuznetsova back into the top 10 in the world ranking (10th) with American Venus Williams slipping to 11th. Kuznetsova said changing her mindset during the tough rallies has helped her win more points. She said another reason she was playing so well was that the distractions that used to zap her game were no longer bothering her. “When I was a kid I was always thinking about the planes and birds overhead and I would never win a match,” Kuznetsova said. “During the first set it (a circling plane) was pretty annoying. But I knew I had to forget about it and just play.” Kuznetsova won her first title first since Bali in 2004 and improved to 3-2 lifetime against Sharapova. “It was tough,” Sharapova said of the final. “I couldn’t put two points together. I was tired from my previous match, and now I need some time off.” Sharapova reached the final after 22nd-seeded Tatiana Golovin retired in the third set on Thursday with a left ankle injury. Sharapova was sluggish early, losing serve to fall behind in the first set and she never recovered. It was the second consecutive year that Sharapova lost the final here and she also saw her 11-match win streak snapped. “She was able to come back from tough points and play a few more,” Sharapova said of Kuznetsova. “I was just not able to keep up with that pace and that was the key.”
— AFP |
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Alonso wins Australian GP
Melbourne, April 2 McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen was behind him 1.8 seconds off the pace with Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher third a further 22.9 seconds back. In a spectacular ending, Jenson Button’s Honda tailed flames and smoke as he pulled up 30 metres short, missing out on points after coming into the home straight in fifth spot pursued by last year’s winner Giancarlo
Fisichella. German Nick Heidfeld in a BMW Sauber was fourth ahead of Renault’s Fisichella with Jacques Villeneuve sixth. The safety car was used four times in an incident-packed race that saw crashes force out Christian Klien, Vitantonio Liuzzi and both Ferrari drivers, Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa. Button, who was the pole-sitter after posting the fastest lap in qualifying yesterday, saw Alonso surge past in the home straight coming off the safety car lap on lap three. He was again overtaken in the straight on lap seven, this time by Raikkonen when the safety car was used a second time after Austrian Klien’s Red Bull veered into a wall and scattered debris onto the track. Alonso came into the pits for the first time after 19 laps and refuelled 84 litres for 22 laps. He rejoined the race in third behind Raikkonen and Australian Mark Webber. Raikkonen pitted next lap, allowing Webber to lead ahead of Alonso with the Finn rejoining the proceedings in third after 21 laps. But Webber’s Williams car slowed to a crawl and he pulled out of the race on lap 23, sending Alonso back to the lead ahead of Heidfeld and
Raikkonen. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher crashed out on the 34th lap. He was in sixth when he appeared to over-steer coming into turn 16 at the top of the home straight. His front wheel crumbled as it hit the retaining wall, sending the car across the track. The safety car was called out for the third time as marshals attempted to clear the track after Schumacher’s collision. Schumacher’s demise left Ferrari with no cars in the race, as Felipe Massa crashed out in the first lap. Liuzzi’s crash made it a fourth trip out for the safety car. Alonso again built a six-second lead over Raikkonen and Ralf Schumacher with 12 laps left. McLaren’s Juan Pablo Montoya pulled out of the race 11 laps from the finish while in fourth place, his car coming to rest in the home straight near the pits. Alonso was never in any bother after that, cruising to victory with the main interest the to-the-wire battle between his teammate Fisichella and Button.
— AFP |
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New Delhi, April 2 Baskaran emerged as the frontrunner for the job with sources backing the former player to replace incumbent Rajinder Singh Junior. “Baskaran is most likely to replace Rajinder Singh,” sources in the Indian Hockey Federation said. “The official announcement of Baskaran’s recall is expected tomorrow or the day after,” they added. Baskaran, on his part, said he was willing to take on the mantle of the coach if the job was offered to him. “If the IHF offers me the post of national coach, I will gladly accept it,” Baskaran told PTI from Hyderabad. Speculation is rife that Rajinder is on his way out due to his failure to extract any sort of positive result from the players. In fact, under him India have managed only to bring up the rear in the five international meets they participated in the last one year. The team finished a lowly sixth in the recent Melbourne Commonwealth Games and one of the top IHF functionaries had said that he would quit if Rajinder was not shown the door. Baskaran was at the helm when India won the Asian Games gold medal in 1998 in Bangkok and has also been the coach of the junior team. The post of national hockey coach has seen a game of musical chairs in recent years. Cedric D’Souza was coach from 1994 to ‘97 but was removed after the Atlanta Olympics to make way for Baskaran. Cedric was brought back after the Sydney Olympics but was axed midway through the 2002 World Cup in controversial circumstances. Rajinder Singh Senior took over but was replaced with German Gerhard Rach just before the 2004 Athens Olympics. Later, Rach fell out with the federation and made way for Rajinder Singh Junior. — PTI
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Rajinder’s fate continues to hang in balance
New Delhi, April 2 The two bosses of the apex hockey body were to meet here today after the dismal performance of the Indian team at the recently concluded 18th Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. India finished a poor sixth after failing to make it to the last-four stage of the meet. Speculation is rife that the axe would fall on Rajinder after his failure to extract any sort of positive result from the players. In fact, under him India have managed only to bring up the rear in the five international meets they participated in the last one year. It is learnt that Jothikumaran is dissatisfied with Rajinder’s performance and wants a change. Talking to PTI today, the IHF Secretary refrained from giving the detailed agenda of the meeting with Gill but said the coach would come up for discussion at the meeting. “Yes, that will come up in the meeting,” he said when asked whether the coach’s issue would be brought up. However, he declined to give the fresh date for the meeting. “It may be tomorrow, it may be day after tomorrow,” Jothikumaran said. But according to IHF sources, the meeting would be held sometime tomorrow in which the squad for the forthcoming four-nation invitational tournament in Germany would also be picked. Coach skips camp
Jalandhar: Indian hockey coach Rajinder Singh Jr, apparently affected by the uncertainty over his position, has not joined the hockey camp at Gurgaon for the forthcoming four-nation championship in Germany. As the name of V. Bhaskaran as the next coach is doing the rounds in hockey circles, the anguish of the coach seems to have led him to stay away. The resignation of Aslam Sher Khan, a former Olympian and member of the selection committee, asking for his removal too flared up the controversy. The coach, as per sources, is also wary of the antagonistic approach of the South lobby. Though the coach when contacted at his residence declined to make any comment.
— PTI, TNS |
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Anand joins 2,800-point club
New Delhi, April 2 Anand, who was knocking on the 2,800 door for quite some time, finally saw it happening at the Corus Super Grandmasters tournament which he won for a record fifth time in January. The Indian ace began the event with 2,792 ELO points and gained 11 points to cross the landmark but missed the top rank by just one point. The top spot was vacant after removal of world’s top rated and now-retired Garry Kasparov’s name from the active players’ list. The top place was grabbed by world champion Veselin Topalov, who withstood some real hard time in this year’s Linares tournament, which Anand missed, and remained at 2,803 ELO points. GM Krishnan Sasikiran was a notable gainer on the list with the Indian, on 2,692 points, clinching back his number two position following his fine performances in the Aeroflot International Open at Moscow, where he was the joint winner. P Harikrishna on 2,680 was the third best Indian. Among the women players, Hungarian Judit Polgar’s supremacy remained uncontested as ever on 2,711 ELO points. But the honour of being the top girl remained with Koneru Humpy, who moved to 2,548 on the new list, since Polgar never plays in the women’s events.
— PTI |
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Palwinder, Anuj win gold
Chandigarh, April 2 Palwinder defeated Rajiv Tomar of Railway Sports Promotion Board in the 120 kg final, while Anuj prevailed over Ravinder of West Bengal in the 84 kg class final bout. Results: Greco-Roman: 55 kg — 1. Joginder (Haryana), 2. K L Yadav (SSCB), 3. Anurag (RSPB) and Vinayak Dalvi ( Maharashtra); 66 kg — Sunil (Mah), 2. Bhauso Patil (SSCB), 3. Pardeep Mann (Haryana) and Anand (Chandigarh); 84 kg — 1. Manoj Kumar (SSCB), 2 Jagbir (Haryana), 3 Arvind Kumar (Tamil Nadu) and Manjeet (WAD); 120 kg — 1. Parveen Kumar (CBSM, Nidani), 2. Virender Singh (RSPB), 3. Ravinder (Haryana) and Dodake Yadav ( Maharashtra). Freestyle: 55 kg: 1. Vinod (Haryana), 2. Ramesh (SSCB), 3. Ram Chander (Maharashtra) and Sumeet (DAWA); 66 kg — 1. Sushil (RSPB), 2. Mahender (SSCB), 3. Shokender Tomar (UP) and Nar Singh Yadav (Maharashtra ); 84 kg — 1. Anuj Chaudhary (UP), 2. Ravinder (WB), 3. Naresh (AIU) and Amit Kumar (DAWA); 120 kg — 1. Palwinder Singh Cheema (Punjab), 2. Rajiv Tomar (RSPB), 3. Jagidsh Kaliraman (UP) and Rohit Patel (MP).
— UNI |
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Resentment over closure of women’s wings
Batala, April 2 Talking to this correspondent here today, some players said the government had closed the wings in the border district although many players had represented the state at the national level. Parents of these players also expressed displeasure at the move. They met Mr Partap Singh Bajwa, PWD Minister, and Mr Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Parliamentary Secretary, Punjab, in this regard. Mr Bajwa and Mr Randhawa have promised to help them. |
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Video: BCCI mum over Chappell- More nexus.
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